Shoe with shape-holding supporting frame



July 23. 1968 B. ROMEN SHOE WITH SHAPE-HOLDING SUPPORTING FRAME 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed June 27. 1967 FIG.3

FIGA

h 5 m m w Mu mm Ml u 3 B July 23, 1968 B. ROMEN SHOE.WITH SHAPE-HOLDING SUPPORTING FRAME 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 27, 1967 FIG-.5

INVENTOR 3mm: Roman BY we k011i Q fihtomass United States Patent 3,393,460 SHOE WITH SHAPE-HOLDING SUPPORTING FRAME Bruno Romeu, Guaitastrasse 12, Kronberg, Taunus, Germany v Filed June 27, 1967, Ser. No. 649,265

Claims priority, application (ggrmany, Apr. 19, 1967,

13 Claims. b1. 36-68) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE The present invention relates to a shoe construction and it is its object to provide the shoe with a built-in shapeholding frame which consists of a molded part of plastic which is produced by injection molding and comprises a rigid insole part which extends between the heel and ball areas of the shoe, and a heel cap which is integrally connected to this insole part and extends forwardly approximately to the arch portion of the shoe. The outer side of the supporting frame is then covered .by the material of the upper of the shoe.

The supporting frame of a shoe of this type which may be produced in a simple manner, for example, by injection molding or casting, not only forms the shape-holding body of the shoe but also serves as a shape-holding support for the leather of the upper. The shaping of the rear part of the upper which in previous shoe constructions had to be carried out on a heel forming machine may therefore now be omitted. This not only renders the manufacture of a 'shoe considerably more simple and less expensive, but it also permits such a shoe to be made of a thinner leather of a lower quality without requiringthe use of an intermediate lining. Since the supporting frame may be made as a molded part of plastic, 2. shoe which is provided with such frame will have and retain the shape of the last on which it is made much more accurately than a shoe the shape of which depends primarily upon the stability of the material of the upper, for example, leather.

In pursuing the invention, it was found that difficulties may occur in making the supporting frame of a shape in accordance with the last if the insole part of this frame has a considerably greater thickness than the heel cap. Due to the difference in the length of time in which the different parts of the supporting frame solidify, the danger occurs that the frame may be distorted by unequal shrinking of these parts.

According to the invention, these difliculties may be substantially overcome by molding the supporting frame in such a manner upon a sole which extends along the entire length of the shoe and will practically not shrink as the result of the molding operation that the supporting frame overlaps the lower side of the sole, while the part of this sole which projects forwardly from the supporting frame forms a flexible lasting sole. Aside from reducing 3,393,460 Patented July 23, 1968 ICC the shrinkage, this full-length sole therefore has the further object to provide the shoe bottom with a flexible front part which is important for permitting a proper rolling motion of the foot. The supporting frame together with the full-length sole therefore forms a single prefabricated component. The full-length sole according to the invention may be made of a material similar to the materials of which the conventional insoles are made and may consist of a compressed fiber layer which is sufficiently flexible and resilient so as not to interfere with the natural rolling motion of the ball area of the foot and also has good moisture-absorbent properties to absorb the perspiration of the foot. Such a compressed fiber layer may also be easily glued together with the inner lining of the upper.

Another feature of the invention according to a preferred embodiment thereof consists in providing the rear part of the full-length sole within the heel cap with a central aperture, preferably of an oblong shape, which is adapted to be filled out with the plastic covering the lower side of the sole and also counteracts a distortion of the supporting frame when the plastic is cooling.

These and additional features of the invention will become more clearly apparent from the following detailed description thereof which is to be read with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 shows a perspective view of the upper side of a full-length sole according to the invention;

FIGURE 2 shows a perspective view of the entire shoe insert according to the invention consisting of the sole according to FIGURE 1 and the supporting frame;

FIGURE 3 shows a cross section which is taken along the line III--III of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 4 shows a cross section which is taken along the line 1V-IV of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 5 shows a top view of the built-in part according to FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 6 shows a bottom view of the built-in part according to FIGURE 2; while FIGURE 7 shows a cross section which is taken along the line VII--VII of FIGURE 2.

As illustrated in the drawings, the shoe structure according to the invention comprises a full-length sole 1 which consists of a flexible but shape-holding material, for example, a fibrous synthetic-resin molded compound, which may be easily glued together with the inner lining of the upper, not shown. The sole 1 is provided within the heel area with an aperture 2 by stamping out a tongue 3 which is still connected at its front end to the sole 1. This sole is placed into the mold in the position as illustrated in FIGURE 1 so that the tongue 3 is bent downwardly and the aperture 2 is open for being filled with the plastic which forms the supporting frame.

The upper side of tongue 3, that is, the side facing the foot, is reinforced by a strip 4 of spring steel which is secured thereto and braces the arch of the foot. When the supporting frame consisting of the heel cap 5 and the insole part 6 is being molded together with the sole 1, the plastic material forming this frame will flow over the steel strip 4 and thereby cover the same completely in the manner as illustrated in FIGURES 3 and 7.

By bending the tongue 3 downwardly, it may be pressed so firmly against the wall of the mold during the molding of the supporting frame that the lower side of this tongue will not be covered by plastic. The lower side of sole 1 is therefore covered with the plastic of the supporting frame only within the area of the marginal strip 1' which surrounds the aperture 2.

For keeping the upper side of this marginal strip 1 of sole 1 free of plastic, this part of the sole is pressed firmly against the wall of the mold while the supporting frame is being molded. The pins which are provided in the mold to hold the tongue 3 and the marginal strip 1' in the desired position during the molding operation leave small apertures 7 in the molded product as indicated in FIGURES and 6.

If the full-length sole 1 consists of a material which may be easily glued together with the inner lining of the shoe, the upper side of the marginal strip 1 which is not covered with plastic will form a very suitable gluing surface for securing the supporting frame to the inner lining of the shoe.

By the feature of the invention of providing the rear part of sole 1 with the aperture 2, the result is attained that the plastic of the supporting frame may also flow over the arch portion of sole 1. The coating 8 of plastic which is thus formed ends near the center of sole 1 at a short distance from the line which forms the axis about which the sole is bent during the natural rolling motion of the foot. This prevents the sole 1 from breaking within this area. The coating of plastic within the arch portion on the upper side of sole 1 has the advantage that, due to the shrinking of the plastic while cooling, a dished recess is formed which is very suitable for adapting the sole to the shape of the foot. If the coating of plastic would not be provided on the upper side but on the lower side on sole 1, this would result in a bulging of the sole in the upward direction in deviation from the shape of the foot.

As illustrated in FIGURES 2 and 5, the front end of the plastic coating 8 forms a concave arc 9. The marginal parts of the plastic coating 8 therefore extend farther toward the flexible part of sole 1 and thereby improve the stability of the foot by considerably increasing the resistance of the sole against bending in the lateral directions.

As shown particularly in FIGURE 4, the ball area of the sole 1 in front of the arc 9 is likewise molded so as to have a dished shape in accordance with the shape of this part of the bottom of the foot and the corresponding last. This dished shape is preferably molded in the same operation with the molding of the supporting frame upon the sole 1 by employing the heat and pressure of molding the latter parts also for molding the sole 1 to the desired shape.

The operation of molding the supporting frame also serves for providing the lower side of the tongue 3 with a projection 10 to which a heel, not shown, may be subsequently secured. For producing this projection 10, tongue 3 is provided with an aperture 11 through which the plastic may flow into a recess in the wall of the mold which has a shape in accordance with the projection 10 so that the latter will be formed therein. This projection 10 is preferably made of an angular block-shape so that when the heel is fitted thereon, it will also be properly centered.

The aperture 11 in tongue 3 coincides with an aperture 12 in the steel strip 4 so as to permit the plastic to flow through both apertures into the recess in the mold.

The supporting frame according to the invention preferably consists of high-pressure polyethylene which possesses the desired physical characteristics of this frame.

The plastic for producing the supporting frame is preferably injected into the mold near the rear end of sole 1, preferably at a point in front of the apex of the sole. The molecules will thereby be oriented in the longitudinal direction of the supporting frame so that the shrinkage of the cooling plastic will have the least effect upon the desired size and shape of the molded article.

When employing the insert consisting of the full-length sole 1 and the supporting frame 5, 6, there will be a change in the conventional manner of producing the upper of the shoe insofar as the material of the upper is now drawn over the last at first at the heel area and the shoe is therefore lasted from the rear toward the front rather than vice versa as it was done previously.

Although my invention has been illustrated and described with reference to the preferred embodiment thereof, I wish to have it understood that it is in no way limited to the details of such embodiment but is capable of numerous modifications within the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus fully disclosed my invention, what I claim is:

1. In a shoe having a built-in insert comprising a shapeholding supporting frame consisting of a molded part of plastic forming a heel cap extending substantially to the arch portion of the shoe, and a full-length sole extending substantially from the rear end to substantially the front end of said shoe and having a flexible front part and a rear part, said rear part being molded together with said heel cap and rendered substantially rigid thereby, said heel cap having lower parts extending around the lateral sides of said rear part and overlapping the lower side thereof and molded thereto, said sole consisting of a material adapted to be substantially nonshrinking under the effects of molding said heel cap to said sole, the outer side of said heel cap being adapted to serve as a base for supporting the material of the upper of said shoe.

2. In a shoe as defined in claim 1, wherein the rear part of said sole within said heel cap is provided with a sub stantially central aperture which in the operation of molding Said supporting frame is filled out with plastic entering from the lower side thereof which also forms said overlapping parts of said heel cap.

3. In a shoe as defined in claim 2, wherein said aperture is of an oblong shape and is formed by cutting out a tongue from said rear part of said sole, said tongue remaining secured at its front end to said sole and being bent downwardly from said sole so as to permit the plastic to flow into said aperture during the operation of molding said supporting frame.

4. In a shoe as defined in claim 2, wherein said insert further comprises a reinforcement adapted to form an arch support secured to Said sole and having an aperture substantially coinciding with said aperture in the rear part of said sole, said plastic filling out both of said apertures in the operation of molding said supporting frame.

5. In a shoe as defined in claim 4, wherein said reinforcement consist of a strip of spring steel embedded completely in said plastic forming said supporting frame.

6. In a shoe as defined in claim 4, wherein said reinforcement is secured to the upper side of said tongue and is embedded completely in said plastic forming said supporting frame.

7. In a shoe as defined in claim 3, wherein said plastic forming said supporting frame is only molded upon the lower side of a marginal strip of said rear part of said sole surrounding said aperture so that the lower side of said tongue is not covered with plastics.

8. In a shoe a defined in claim 1, wherein said plastic also covers at least a part of the upper side of said sole and forms a coating thereon extending forwardly up to a line spaced at a short distance from a line forming the axis about which the sole is bent during the natural rolling motion of the foot on which said shoe is worn.

9. In a shoe as defined in claim 8, wherein the front end of said plastic coating forms a concave are.

10. In a shoe as defined in claim 3, wherein said sole consists of a material capable of being easily glued together with an inner lining of the shoe and has on its upper side within the area of said heel cap a marginal strip surrounding said aperture and not covered with the plastic of said supporting frame. said marginal strip being adapted for gluing thereto the lower edge of said lining.

11. In a shoe as defined in claim 3, wherein said tongue is provided with an aperture through which the plastic passes in the operation of molding said supporting frame so as to form a projection projecting from the lower side of Said tongue and adapted for securing a heel thereon.

12. In a shoe as defined in claim 11, further comprising a reinforcement adapted to form an arch support secured to said sole and having an aperture substantially coinciding with said aperture in said tongue.

13. In a shoe as defined in claim 1, wherein said supporting frame consists of high-pressure polyethylene.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS Klaus 3668 X Brody 128-595 Baumann et a1. 3676 Romen 3668 X Garcia 3676 PATRICK D. LAWSON, Primary Examiner. 

